Post-Viet Nam until Move to Spring Creek Forest (September 1967 to August 1977)

In early September 1967, my 2-year obligation in the army ended, and I made it back safely from the Viet Nam tour of duty. The first year back was spent re-adjusting and getting a life and work lined out: a month of vacation with Radene at her parents’ place on Eagle Mountain Lake, reporting back to work with Exxon, catching up with geophysical technology advances, and taking on my first field assignment in Canadian, Texas. Carolyn, our first child, was born there. Then we moved to the lake for about three months while I worked out of a suitcase in Ft. Smith, Arkansas. The field assignment ended, and in early October 1968, we moved back to Houston and promptly bought our first home – at 723 Cheam Circle in the Hidden Forest subdivision in the Northshore area. Finally, we were settled down – living there for almost nine years.

My Life’s Journey of Faith-Part 5-Back to Houston

Not much happened spiritually during that re-adjustment year. Once we got back to Houston, we became active again at First Baptist Jacinto City. Radene became the church pianist, and I began teaching Sunday School for 9th-grade boys, got back in the choir, and started up the men’s quartet again. Over the next several years I also got involved in driving a church bus to pick up kids for Sunday School, chairing the Stewardship Committee, participating in the WIN soul witnessing training, serving as a guest speaker at the deacon’s banquet in 1975, and being ordained as a deacon in the spring of 1977. In the early 1970’s McGary Ford became our pastor, and his strong leadership and stirring sermons had a definite influence on me. The kindness, acceptance, and friendship of strong Christian men like Wayne Farmer and Milton Powell also made an impression on me as examples of godly men who would be good to emulate.

One particularly noteworthy year was 1972. That was the year I first gave tithing serious consideration after a Dr. Ford sermon. We had been giving regularly but nothing near a tithe. God had blessed us so much I trusted that he would make things work out, and so we committed to starting immediately. Shortly afterward we experienced two more huge blessings. First, we had our 2nd and last child and it was the boy we hoped it would be. Before the birth, we had agreed that Radene would have her tubes tied during the C-section surgery. We had wanted a boy to go along with our girl, and God indeed blessed us with one – Christopher Paul. Then, the major job transfer I had requested into the systems group at work came through (I was working on a master’s degree in computer science and wanted a career change into systems). The new job was a perfect match with my degree interests. Along with the transfer came a nice salary increase. Again, I saw it as a blessing from God and both huge blessings as an affirmation from God that tithing was the right thing to do. Follow How to Find Peace with God for more information.

Up next While at Our Spring Creek Forest Home and Champion Forest Baptist Church (August 1977 to May 1999)